By Peter McGoughNasser El Sonbaty, who passed away March 20, aged 47, was a bodybuilding one-off: A maverick who trod an individual path through his chosen sport.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Nasser’s father was Egyptian and his mother was from Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Throughout his contest career he insisted that he be billed as representing Yugoslavia.
SLOW ASCENTMost guys who crack the Olympia top six on five occasions, as Nasser did, rise pretty fast through the pro ranks. Nasser didn’t. His pro career started inauspiciously in 1990, and the first occasion I saw him was at the 1991 Night of Champions where he finished out of the top 14. The winner was Dorian Yates and on that day if someone had said the Yugoslavian behemoth would eventually threaten Yates’ Olympia reign, they would have been told, “Yeah, and one day Arnold Schwarzenegger will be Governor of California.”
Two third places in 1993 at the French and German Grand Prixs signaled that the 270 pounder was on the move, and 1994 was a breakthrough year when he finished second to Mike Francois at the Night of Champions and seventh in his first Olympia. By now he had moved to San Diego and I got to know him quite well as he came into the Weider offices in LA regularly. I found him to be a thoughtful and well-educated individual; he had graduated from the University of Augsburg, Germany in 1992 with degrees in History, Political Science and Sociology. He was unafraid to laugh at himself and the “crazy world” of bodybuilding he inhabited. In fact most of the time the conversations would be non-bodybuilding. In the offseason he would, at 315 pounds, come into Weider HQ clad in shorts and casual shirt and as he made his way down the corridors, heads with WTF expressions would pop out of offices to stare in bulging eye fashion at this walking cartoon.
FLEX used to have a section called The Big Picture in which bodybuilders would pick their favorite books, cars and give out other trivia not connected with gym work. Nasser, alone, absolutely refused to do it. He would say, “I won’t answer stupid questions. Nobody wants to know what my favorite movie is.”
RISE AND FALL
In 1995 he won the Night of Champions and Houston Pro and was third in the Olympia and was seen as maybe the biggest threat to Yates, who he could match on size and weight. Although that golden generation of ‘90s bodybuilders weren’t exactly bosom buddies they did hang out together backstage and on European tours. Nasser was different; he seemed to prefer his own company and although classed as a loner he never seemed lonely.
Testing for diuretics took place at the 1996 Mr. Olympia staged in Chicago and at the athletes meeting 48 hours before the contest Nasser excused himself about three times to use the rest room. As he came back for the final time he brushed past me, shot me an impish grin and said, “Yes, I know what you’re thinking. The answer is yes.” On the night of the contest he was placed third, but 48 hours later when the test results came back his sample was found to be positive and he was disqualified. He told me, “I gambled and lost. But I’m not going to cry about it. I can’t -- the diuretics make that impossible.”
At the 1997 Olympia he was runner-up with many in attendance thinking he had ended Yates Sandow run. At the 1998 Arnold his 280 pounds finished second to Flex Wheeler’s 224 pounds, and I found myself writing, “Standing next to each other, Flex looked like Nasser’s lunch.”
With the 1998 Olympia title being up for grabs due to Yates’ retirement, Nasser had great hopes of taking over as bodybuilding’s top man, but Ronnie Coleman spoiled that party and the previous year’s runner-up was third. A few months later he won the 1999 Arnold but that sixth pro victory really was the last hurrah for one of the most enigmatic characters to ever liven up the bodybuilding landscape. His physique and results fell away and his last contest was 14th place at the 2005 Europa Supershow.
As his standings faltered there were accusations that he used synthol in his delts and one time he was hospitalized for an infection in that area. He brushed it off as a “Staph infection,” and also cited “scar tissue” as the cause. Years later he did admit he used Esiclene. During that long – sad to watch -- deteriorating winter of his career Nasser was often asked if he had any thoughts of retiring. He would, respond,” I’m tired of being asked that stupid question. I don't know. Do you know when you're going to retire? Or when you're going to die? Or when you're going to have children? When I know I'm going to retire, I'll announce it, but until then, I don't know."
After the end of his career Nasser became increasingly critical and bitter over the years about the structure of bodybuilding, and how he felt he had not been given his just desserts. It was not an opinion I shared, and he knew it.
THE LAST TIMEIt was March 3, 2006, in Columbus Ohio, the night before that year’s Arnold Classic. I found myself in the bar of the Westin Hotel with Nasser. He sipped on a diet coke and I nursed a Johnnie Walker Black. We spoke for maybe three hours and reminisced about former years and discussed many non-bodybuilding subjects. The evening was free of tension and rancor.
That was the last occasion we spoke; we never had any more contact. It was an enjoyable evening when I re-united with the old – which is to say the young – Nasser. A Nasser eager to share a joke and ready to find humor amid the unpredictable world of bodybuilding. The Nasser of that evening is the one I will remember. Rest in peace, my friend.
NASSERTIONS - The Things He Said
On Shawn Ray: “He should apply for a job at Fed-Ex because he tells everyone he has the perfect package.”
On Paul Dillett: “I call him The Great Plains, due to all the wide open spaces on his physique.”
On gurus: “If a bodybuilder finishes first, he screams ‘I won’. If they lose they say, ‘My guru screwed me up.’”
On genetics: “In bodybuilding, genetics is key. You can give a Greyhound exactly the same amount of steroids as you give a Rottweiler, but the Rottweiler will always be bigger and more massive than the greyhound.”
On training partners: “I never believed in having the crutch of a permanent training partner to urge me on. When I was studying at the University of Augsburg there was no-one standing over me screaming, ‘Come on Nasser, one more book!’”
